The present-on-admission (POA) indicator is part of Medicare's effort to become an active versus a passive payer of Medicare beneficiaries' healthcare. The following article focuses on the coder's role in meeting the challenges of the POA from a clinical coding perspective.
Challenges of applying POA indicators
POA refers to those conditions present when a staff member issues the order for an inpatient admission. It also encompasses the conditions that develop during outpatient encounters, including emergency department (ED) visits, observation, and outpatient surgery.
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